“Like I said, different hobbies. Doesn’t mean we need to be exterminated,” the demoness shrugs before she looks at the other demons. “Hey. We did what we came here to do. Get a move on. You too, you pathetic little fucknugget,” she adds, flipping off her demonic boyfriend.
Melchom says something back to her in the Nether tongue that I can’t quite translate, but it’s insulting enough that the demoness grins. The other demons amble away from the side of the castle. Eisha says farewell to Maven before following them, clearly enjoying the disgusted and disturbed looks they’re earning from the other onlookers.
My keeper’s attention moves to the dead changelings. “How disturbed do you think Asher Douglas will be if we ask him to move the bodies to the dungeon?”
“Extremely,” I decide.
She smiles. “Excellent.”
48
MAVEN
I bite backa sound of pleasure when Silas grows rougher, pinning me to the wall of the dungeon as he moans and feeds from my neck. His stiff erection grinds hard against me as he pulls deeply from my neck again.
This is the least I can offer him, after he’s spent hours resurrecting the changelings.
Not to mention, if blood loss didn’t make me so lightheaded, I would ask him to feed from me all the time. The rush of his fangs sinking into my neck, the sting of pain and pleasure coursing through my veins—hearing his hungry groans as he becomes more desperate for my blood…
It’s everything a girl could ask for.
“That’s enough,” Everett mutters from his chair.
We set up a makeshift study table in this section of the dungeons so the rest of my quintet could study the intricate red-crayon map I drew on the back of my list. Crypt is still studying it, but Everett is wearing his reading glasses as he glowers at how aggressive Silas has become while feeding from me.
Baelfire finishes locking yet another reanimated Maven look-alike inside one of the many cells. A few muttering ghosts mull around this dungeon, curiously watching our macabre process.
Silas swallows one last time before he releases my neck, shuddering as he licks away the remaining traces of blood.
“Godsdamn me, I can never get enough of your divine taste,” he groans.
Grinning, I lace my fingers through his black curls to move his head so I can kiss him. I don’t care that when his tongue sweeps against mine, it tastes coppery like my blood. He grinds against me again, his bloodied lips curling into a smile against mine.
“Feeling better?” I ask breathlessly.
“Than comper nas leathu,”he murmurs, also trying to catch his breath. “Tha galeath.”
Which is fae for,I’m always better with you. I love you.
I peer at him, growing serious. “Tha galeath. But I’m not sure how much help I’ll be when crafting the heart.”
“I can manage,sangfluir,”he promises, brushing my hair off my face with blackened fingertips.
His crimson gaze is so deep I could swim in it, but we’re interrupted when Asher Douglas once again enters the dungeon. He glances at the table where Baelfire has now joined the others memorizing the map of the Nether, but when he sees Silas lick another streak of blood off my neck, he gags.
“Gross. Get a fucking room.”
“I bought out the assets of the Legacy Council after they fled, so I own every room in this castle,” Everett reminds him, making a mark on the map.
Douglas grunts unhappily before glancing at me again, his green eyes lighting up briefly as his unique ability must pick up on someone else’s magic in the distance.
“Are there ghosts down here, too?” he checks.
“They follow me,” I explain, grinning when the blue-haired ghost pantomimes smacking his ass.
The mercenary makes a face at all the Undead changeling Mavens in a cell before he turns to leave. “That lioness shifter wants to see you about where she’ll be during the attack.”
I had planned on the Baird quintet being in charge of this safe haven during the attack, but if Kenzie doesn’t like being away from the action, I can think of a few places I could put her quintet. Nodding, I slip out of Silas’s arms despite his sigh and move to leave the dungeons. As I do, I hear Baelfire mutter something to Crypt, who promptly drops into Limbo to follow me just in case.
